If you’re facing criminal charges for the first time in your life, soon you’re going to learn a lot about the criminal process. Surely, you have lots of questions at this point in time and one of the questions that may come up is, “What is bail exactly?”
“Bail is only supposed to be set in cases where the court deems the accused person to be a ‘flight risk,’ meaning they are unlikely to return to court on their own. The purpose of bail is to ensure that the person who pays bail, or who has bail paid on their behalf, will come to court on all of their court dates. However, because some people cannot afford to pay the money required, bail also keeps people in jail until their case is finished or the bail is paid,” according to the Legal Aid Society.
How Much is Bail?
If you are required to pay bail in order to get out of jail, your next question is going to be, “How much is it?” The amount of bail that a defendant has to pay is up to the judge, and the bail amount depends on several factors, such as:
- The charges
- The defendant’s criminal record (if any)
- The defendant’s ties to the community (e.g. family and job)
- If the defendant has ever missed a court date in the past
- If the defendant poses a threat to the community
- If the defendant is a flight risk
- If the defendant is an immigrant and their likelihood of escaping the U.S. to their foreign country to evade prosecution
If a defendant cannot come up with the bail amount, he or she can make arrangements for their release by using a bail bondsperson. Usually, the defendant pays 10 percent of the total bond and in return, the bail bondsperson guarantees the remainder if the defendant fails to show up in court. In some jurisdictions, defendants don’t need to contact a bail bonds person because more (and more) courts are releasing defendants after they pay 10 percent of the bail directly to the court.
To secure a hard-hitting defense and learn more about bail, contact Brad Bailey Law today at (617) 500-0252.